Stephen Crainey: Fleetwood had "opportunities to kill the game" at Shrewsbury

The Cod Army were forced to settle for a third draw on the spin after an entertaining game in blustery Shropshire.

Anthony Pilkington bagged his third goal in five games in the first half, but Zak Jules clumsily bundled over Shrews striker Daniel Udoh and Luke Leahy made no mistake from the penalty spot.

“I thought we had opportunities to kill the game,” said Crainey, whose battling team remain two points and two places above the relegation zone after a day on which only rock-bottom Doncaster Rovers managed a win among the teams in League One's lower half.

“I thought we were excellent first half in the game," the Scot added. “We had chances to get that second and third goal and we never took our chances.

“The most pleasing thing is we got opportunities to get the chances. Once we get that clicking we’ll win games of football.

“We conceded the penalty from a set-piece and after looking back at it it looks soft.

“But the referee’s given it on the day, so we need to lick our wounds and move on.”

It was a real game of two halves at New Meadow. Fleetwood should have been further ahead before the break but frustratingly failed to take their chances in front of goal.

And Steve Cotterill’s side made them pay after the restart with their 48th-minute penalty.

The hosts came closest to stealing all three points right at the end as Danny Andrew hacked Udoh’s late effort off the line.

Crainey said: “I said to the group at half-time that we needed to expect a reaction from Shrewsbury.

“I thought we played one too many passes and invited a little bit of pressure, but we’ll learn from it and get better from it.

“Second half they had us hemmed in without creating much. They put a lot of balls in with crosses, corners and throws, and I thought we dealt with it well.”

Crainey was left bitterly frustrated after his side’s home defeat to Shrewsbury at Christmas, when a fragile Fleetwood couldn’t handle their visitors’ physical presence and were well beaten 3-0.

But Crainey was delighted with the way his side dealt with their opposition this time around.

“I think with the signings we made in January we got a bit of physicality into the side and I thought we matched them,” he said.

“I thought we coped with them quite well, to be honest. I get that they were a little bit stronger than us in the second half but we dominated the first half.

“In terms of the physical aspect, on Boxing Day we couldn’t cope with it, so I’m really pleased with the way we dealt with it this time.”

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